Art Wynwood In Pictures and Video...

This past Monday I made the last stop on my art filled weekend and took a drive down to Art Wynwood. This was the first year of this awesome show in my favorite Miami neighborhood so I had to check it out...

Here goes....

Two tents were set up just south of the Shops at Midtown Miami and were chock full of the most amazing International Contemporary Artwork the world's artists have to offer.

One of the Art Wynwood tents

So now... I invite you to join me in my experience and take a look at what I found were the best pieces shown...

One of the highlights of the show were the special camo deer areas by Ron English. They were around the sides and in the walkways to get from one tent to the other. You may recognize the camo deer from one of my previous post on the Wynwood Walls. Very neat aesthetic, they were made to show different seasons as well.

Ron English - Camo Deer

When I first walked in I couldn't take my eyes off this awesome video piece by Daniel Cherbuin - Amazing!

 

 Amazing - Video Artwork by Daniel Cherbuin

On to the rest of the show....

Artwork by Hugo Lugo

Artwork by Heidi Popovic

Pit Stop! Time for lunch... The Art Wynwood cafe...

Cool artwork all over the walls in here too!

VIP Lounge with "The Flying Murals" of Wynwood

Artwork by Martin C Herbst

Artwork by Mel Bochner

Artwork by Robi Walters

I couldn't believe that this amazing piece (below) was made from Light Bright pegs! It consists of 55,000 pegs and 36 pegboards. Made to look like The Lady and the Unicorn tapestry hanging in Paris.Very cool!

Artwork by Joey Syta

Artwork by Arno Rafael Minkkinen

And so ends my day at Art Wynwood...

Bye bye Art Wynwood... Til next year!

Sooooo...... What did you think? Did it bring inspiration to your little computer or smartphone screen?

Saturday Coconut Grove Arts Festival....

We woke up bright and early on Saturday to make it down to the Coconut Grove Arts Festival before it got crazy busy!

We were on the road at 9:45am and before we knew it, were overheating the FL sunshine - it was so hot this year! We were talking about how in years past it was so cold. The cold would have been totally welcomed this year.

Entrance to Coconut Grove Art Show

Sooooooo we spent a few hours perusing the amazing artists that comprise the fest.

First, stopped and talked to Kimberly Willcox. She's an amazing artist from Gainesville, FL. I have a few of her pieces from way back when I worked at Seldom Seen Gallery, including my amazing jewelry holder. It has to be my most favorite art piece that I own - AND it's functional. She said she gets requests for them all the time, but doesn't make them anymore. I did a little celebration dance that I was able to get one.

My Kimberly Willcox Jewelry Stand

My next favorite stops are at Mullanium and Fobots by Amy Flynn - I love, love, love both of these artists.

We have a Mullanium mirror in our house, (again, back from Seldom Seen days)

Our Mullanium Go Fish Mirror

Along with the mirrors, I'm obsessed with the birds that they make. OBSESSED! The attention to detail on them is absolutely superb, but they are priiiiiiicey!! Woo! Someday, we will make a purchase... someday. The prices for the birds start at about $300 and go up from there.... Maybe when I turn 30.... hint hint, wink wink....

Beautiful Mullanium Bird

The second artist I mentioned is Fobots by Amy Flynn.

Amy is the first person I've seen making these robots going back for years. They are very often imitated (as I've seen at several other art shows), but never quite get the attention to detail that these Fobots (Found Object Robots) carry. Again, they are pretty pricey.... I would say again they start at about $250 and go up from there. 30th birthday again? ;)

Fobots by Amy Flynn Designs

After doing the first half of the show, we always check out the St. Stephen's Art Show. I applied to get into this show this year and wasn't accepted. Actually, they never notified me whether I was accepted or rejected. My application status on ZAPP still says Received. I think it's safe to say at this point, that I didn't get in. My mom bought a really cool metal flower at St. Stephens - pics to follow!

Every year it's an Ackerman family tradition to have lunch halfway through the show in Cocowalk at Cheesecake Factory. This helps to cool down before the second half of the show.... Much needed this time.

Starting the second half of the show...

For the second half of the show, the artist I was most excited to see was Ed King. Ed makes the most amazing pop art and lives right here in Miami. It's his 5th year doing the show and he says it's his fave. His artwork is so bright and cheerful... not to mention so is he. Just a wonderful experience in his booth. I'm totally eyeing this Garden of Ganish piece....

Ed King Pop Art - Garden of Ganish

So there it is.... My 2012 Coconut Grove Arts Festival experience. I'm off to Art Wynwood today, my last stop on this crazy art filled weekend - lots of more cool art to come!

Crazy Art Filled Weekend Ahead....

At the end of my last post, I spoke about the crazy amount of arty things to do this weekend... Can you believe there's even more than I originally anticipated? There's no better time to try out some of the awesome art events South Florida has to offer us!

So much to do.... it's like Art Shows A Go Go!

Here's a breakdown of the weekend....

Art Walk Las Olas -  Thursday, February 16th

Art Walk Las Olas is an arts driven, reoccurring event the Third Thursday monthly from 6-10pm on Las Olas Boulevard.   The participating galleries host exhibit openings, receptions, artists, and outdoor entertainment to combine for a truly memorable evening on the boulevard. 
Third Thursday Dates:  Feb 16th, March 15th, April 19th, May 17th


Art Wynwood - Thursday, February 16th - Monday, February 20th

Art Wynwood will feature paintings, photography, sculpture, art video and new media, conceptual art and urban street art by 500 artists from 13 countries: Argentina, Austria, Canada, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Mexico, Spain, the Netherlands, Venezuela, United Kingdom and the United States. With representation from 100 cities from around the world, including 50 across the U.S., Art Wynwood will further distinguish the Wynwood Arts District as a leading cultural destination for acquiring contemporary art. A VIP Private Preview will be held in celebration of the opening on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012.


Coconut Grove Art Festival - Saturday, February 18th - Monday, February 20th

Celebrating its 49th anniversary in 2012, the Coconut Grove Arts Festival® is the nation’s top outdoor fine arts festivals. The three-day festival showcases the works of over 360 of the finest artists and craftsmen in the world. A signature event of the South Florida cultural calendar, the Arts Festival is a true “Celebration of the Arts” offering visitors the opportunity to meet with exhibiting artists, sample fine cuisine, enjoy live entertainment and take in the tropical waterfront views of Coconut Grove.

Coral Ridge Home & Craft Show - Saturday, February 18th - Sunday, February 19th

 
A Fun and Unique Mall Experience this Weekend in Fort Lauderdale! Come on out Saturday February 18th from 9am-9pm ... and/or on Sunday February 19th from 12noon-6pm to the Coral Ridge Mall (Oakland Park Blvd & N. Federal Hwy - where Target and Publix are located) You will see a unique display of fashion, health, beauty, travel, home decor, garden and outdoor living, kitchens and baths, home improvements and much, much more. This is a show you won't want to miss! 


City-Wide Market - Saturday, February 18th

City-Wide Market is a huge MONTHLY garage sale, flea market, vintage and local product fair rolled into one fantastic INDOOR event!You’ll find tons of locals selling a wide range of items, including:
- Gently Used and Good Condition SecondHand Goods
- Vintage/Retro Items
- Collectibles and Novelties
- Locally Made Products and Crafts
Plus: Food, Drinks and Fresh Brewed Coffee, Music and More!
** FREE Goodie Bags for the FIRST 100 guests in line!!**
FREE Admission / FREE Parking!
This event is comprised of LOCALS selling their stuff! NO mass "made in China" merchandise, NO in-your-face perfume vendors, NO knockoff and bootleg sellers!



ArtiGras - Saturday, February 18th - Monday, February 20th

The ArtiGras Fine Arts Festival takes place Feb. 18 through Feb. 20 at Abacoa Town Center.
The festival is ranked as one of the top 50 art shows in the United States, with a juried exhibition of 280 artists from all over the country. The three-day event also features interactive art exhibits, music, and demonstrations. ArtiGras is produced by the Northern Palm Beach County Chamber of Commerce and benefits over 60 school art programs and non-profit organizations.
Festival hours are Feb. 18 and 19 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Feb. 20 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A lot to do right!?

Our schedule is to go down to Coconut Grove Arts Festival Saturday morning and hit up City-Wide Market Saturday afternoon. Sunday we'll check out Coral Ridge Home and Craft Show - Cari will be there with Doopiemoos! On Monday, we'll head down to Art Wynwood. We probably won't make it up to Artigras, but figured I would share for those up in WPB. There's only so much driving a girl can take in one weekend!

Soooooooo which one(s) are you going to?

Saturday Retro Indie Market Fun...

I've been so excited for the past few weeks to head up to Boynton Beach and check out this show!

Flyer for the event....

Cari and I (and little Casey) made the trip up on Saturday and were lucky enough to score some awesome finds!

First a little history on the event:

Retro Indie Market is the creation of Amanda Linton and Michelle Parparian two long time friends who share a love of vintage and indie crafts. With two 2 successful shows between them (Amanda with Stitch Rock and Michelle with The Vintage Trunk Show) they wanted to combine their love of vintage and indie crafts together to create a unique marketplace showcasing some of the best local crafters and vintage dealers under one roof. Making things by hand has long been a part of the vintage home and we are happy to bring the two together once again. 


Located in an old library that now houses meetings and events, this show is a mecca for awesome handmade goods, vintage finds and yummy snacks!

We arrived around 11:15am and waited in a line that wrapped around the building (people know good stuff when they hear about it) The line moved along very quickly and we were in! The building was filled with room after room of the best of the best South Florida vintage and crafters.

One of the rooms filled with goods.....

Our first purchase was from CABFAYRE of an awesome necklace for Casey. She has an amazing selection of awesome cut acrylic pieces - Octopi, music notes & deer necklaces and accessories... Casey settled on a My Little Pony necklace.

Casey and her CABFAYRE necklace

For my first purchase, I scored an awesome vintage navy train case (On the floor next to Casey)! I've been on the hunt for one of these for the longest time and was elated when I came across this one. There is an abundance of super cool ones on etsy, but because of the nature of them (size, weight, etc) shipping is always as much if not more than the case itself. So when I saw this Navy beauty with the gorgeous pink satin lining... I had to have it! If someone knows which shop I bought it from could you please let me know? I'd love to give credit where it is due... I was so excited I paid and walked away without grabbing a card! They were next to the With Sugar on Top booth!

Next we moseyed on upstairs where Cari made purchases from Our Lady of Perpetual Pickles - Yum! and I went over to see Jennifer at OBIE Handmade. I mentioned her awesome rings in my previous post about Odd Duck - I'm obsessed! At this point I think I have 5 or 6 of them - Of course I bought an awesome sun ring... Jennifer is the best! :)

My awesome new Obie Handmade ring

After perusing the upstairs we decided to do another round of shopping downstairs to get at the pieces /shops that were too packed to get to the first time around. This brought us back to Traci with Reinvintage Jewelry and My Little Thriftstore. Through talking to Traci, Cari noticed the awesome stool she was sitting on... and then noticed that it had a tag... Could it be for sale?! YES!

Cari's vintage stool and my sweet train case

That stool is crazy awesome. The date stamped is 1908 and is so cool and rustic. Though hard to tell in this pic, it has amazing claw feet and an awesome cracked wood top. I die. Of course we couldn't leave without purchasing cupcakes from Sugar Mama Sweets.... 

French Toast with Bacon on top.... Yum!

And so ends our fun morning at Retro Indie Market. With more and more of these events popping up in South Florida there is a great show or market to attend almost every weekend. There's no better way to support handmade and local artists!

Actually.... there's no better time to get into the scene than this coming Presidents Day week/end (Feb 16th-20th)! For this weekend alone, here comes Coconut Grove Art Festival, Art Wynwood, Art: Sunny Side Up @ Coral Ridge, City-Wide Market AND ArtiGras up in WPB! 

If you're attending any of the above let me know, would love to see you there! I'm going to try to make my way around to all or most of them!

Reviews, Pics and fun to follow - XO

Yard House.... Yum!

This weekend Andy and I ventured down to Hallandale Beach and went to The Village at Gulfstream Park for dinner and a little light gambling. We particularly went because we wanted to check out the restaurant we've heard so many rave reviews about - Yard House.

The entire area in Gulfstream has been completely revamped over the last couple years. It now hosts 2 casinos and lots of great restaurants and shopping. We've been to a couple other restaurants in the center and always noticed The Yard House being packed... Now we know why -  this place is awesome!

With around 112 beers to choose from and a great food and drink menu, Yard House was a great evening out! We did have to wait almost an hour for a table, but went at peak time - around 7:30. We also wanted to sit outside which was a longer wait. Must say, it was well worth it! We perched at the bar, watched the Heat game and it went by quickly. 

Dark and not so great pic from the bar....

Once seated, we decided on the Lobster, Crab and Artichoke dip for an app. I had the Shrimp Rice Bowl for dinner and Andy had Lettuce Wraps and Calamari. Everything was great! It was a great portion size and we were even able to take home lunch for the next day. Everything was priced right, including the drinks. The menu was so crazy big it was so hard to decide on what to eat. Very excited to have tried this place - We now have a new fave spot!

After dinner we went to the casino which we were amazed and laughing hysterically that the house wine (red and white) was $2.12 a glass - amazing - drinks for everyone!

$6.36 for 3 glasses of wine? Sign me up!

We left the casino at about even for spendings and winnings all thanks to Andy on the Roulette machine - Bonus!

You can check out my Yelp on Yard House here - We will definitely be back many many more times!

Accepted - I'm an Odd Duck...

Ahhhhh the Indie Craft Show, like a traditional art show, but so much better!

Unique and affordable wares and the chance to meet the actual artist (might I mention a real person) behind the work. What could be better than supporting a local and handmade artist?! AND you'll have something that no one else will ever have... This place is chock full of one of a kind pieces. Even better, the money you are spending is going directly to the person you are buying from to make their dreams of being an artist come true - Hello? No brainer!

Sooooooo this past Friday I found out that I was accepted to the Odd Duck Handmade Indie Craft Show and Bazaar - Yipee!!!!!!!

Andy and I attended Odd Duck last year (second year of the show) in the Old Davie School Historical Museum. What a cool show!

We purchased awesome wares from some amazing artists including - Beautiful rings from Obie Handmade, and fun prints from Chloe The Hot Dog & Friends AND Peace Owls and Other Lovely Things

You can see Peace Owls and Chloe the Hotdog in this pic - View inside one of the buildings

Shot of one of the outdoor tents...

Inside another one of the buildings... Obie Handmade in the background 

As you can see this event is massive and fun! The location is set for this year at the downtown Hollywood Performing Arts Center (5 minute walk from young circle) on March 31st from 12:00-6:00pm.

Odd Duck is hosted by the Hollywood Craft Mafia -  A collection of awesome peeps that are committed to seeing the craft market in our area flourish. You can get more info on joining or the other events they host here.

For more info on the show you can check out the Odd Duck website here.
Also follow Odd Duck on Facebook and Twitter.

Andy and I will be there with bells on promoting GCD!

Would love to see you - Buy local and handmade!!!!